


The Beginning After the End

by distressedpidgeon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Blade of Marmora Keith (Voltron), Farmer Lance (Voltron), Fix-It of Sorts, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, Yes they got married after season 8, farm, klance, no you can't tell me otherwise, not too much of a slowburn cause we've had 8 seasons of that, space boyfriends, sue me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 10:01:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29524719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/distressedpidgeon/pseuds/distressedpidgeon
Summary: After a year in space leading the Blade of Marmora in their humanitarian efforts, Keith returns to Earth for something he finds more important. Lance.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	1. A New Beginning

I look at the farm house standing at the end of the path from the road. There's butterflies in my stomach and my head feels light. I've been gone from Earth too long, I can hardly contain my excitement as I start up the path.   
Whoever said distance makes the heart grow fonder was spot on. Lance and I have been messaging back and forth since about a month after I left to work with the Blade. I knew without fail there would be a video message when I returned to our base from a mission. When I told Lance I was coming back to Earth, he invited me to stay with him at the farm. I couldn't say no. Literally, I couldn't. Everything in me was pushing me closer to Lance.   
I knock on the door, taking a deep breath. Shouting comes from inside before the door opens, revealing a small girl. Lance's niece, Nadia. I kneel down so I'm at her level. "Hey, is your uncle Lance home?"  
She nodded quickly before closing the door again. I'm not sure what to do. Do I knock again? Do I wait here for someone to open the door? Do I take this as a sign from the universe and leave?  
I stand and brush myself off, checking my reflection in my phone screen. I door swings open and I see him.  
Lance. As bright and beautiful as a sun. His brown hair and tan skin and ocean blue eyes, he's here. He's right in front of me. He still has his Altean marks, and his smile isn't as bright as it used to be, but it's HIM.  
"Keith!" He shouts, wrapping me into a tight hug.   
I laugh, hugging him back just as tightly. I breathe in his familiar scent as we embrace. "It's good to see you, man!"  
Lance pulls away, just slightly, to look at me. He's so close. I can feel his brightness radiating off him. He's the happiest I've seen him since, well... you know. Since that final battle. It looks like his time on the farm has done him some good.   
"Come inside!" He tells me, dragging me through the door. "I hope you don't mind sleeping on the cot, Veronica's visiting so the guest room is taken."  
"I don't mind at all." To be honest, anything beats the old blanket I've been sleeping on during missions. It's practical but it absolutely kills my back.   
Lance pulls me through the living room to a hallway, doors lining either side. We go through the door at the end of the hallway, revealing a room decked out in blue. The walls are a deep blue, like a lake in twilight. His bedspread is a lighter shade of blue, lighter than the ocean but darker than the sky. A wooden desk sits under the window that overlooks the fields outside. The only thing that seems staggeringly break this color scheme is a cot set up opposite to his bed, topped with a red quilt with black and purple accents. Though I'd hardly call it a cot. When he mentioned it, I thought he was talking about the old army cots we'd use at the Garrison during field training. This looks more like a twin bed with a metal frame, a mattress sitting on the frame.  
"We're rooming together until Veronica heads home, I hope that isn't a problem." Lance looks at me.   
"After how long I've known you, I've practically trained for this." I know it sounds stupid as soon as I say it, but he laughs. That joyful, beautiful laugh that I love so much.  
I walk over to the cot, dropping my duffel next to it. Lance takes a seat on his bed as I mirror him on mine. I take time to look at the quilt.   
"Mama was so excited she heard you were coming she insisted on making you a quilt. Do you like it?"  
I almost tear up. Mrs. McClain has always been an angel. "It's beautiful, I love it."  
Lance beams, and I feel my heart skip a beat. God, I'm so in love with him. These next few months are going to be heaven... or they could be hell.


	2. I'm Hopelessly In Love With Lance McClain

Dinner at the McClain's was phenomenal. Mrs. McClain is second in cooking only to Hunk, I'd put money on it. After dinner Lance and I went back to his room. Our room, I guess, for the time being. 

Lance hops onto his bed, messing up the perfectly made blue bed spread, and leans against his pillows. I take my place on my cot, watching him. He looks so at ease here, peaceful. I remember how stressed he could get before missions, I remember the sleepless nights where we'd find each other roaming the castle, just trying to occupy ourselves. Farm life has been good for him. Really, not having the fate of the universe resting on his shoulders has been good for him. For all of us, for sure. 

He looks over at me and I bring my eyes to the quilt, not wanting to be caught staring. 

"It really is nice to have you back." He says to me. 

"It's nice to be back." I look over at him. "I forgot how much I missed Earth."

"Did you miss Earth, or did you miss the McClains?" He jokes.

"Hmm, well that is a tough question." I joke back. 

Something catches my eye from the window. The sun is setting, the sky just starting to turn a light pink. I stand and hold out my hand. "Come on."

He gives me a look. "Where to?"

"You'll see!" I laugh, grabbing his hand and pulling him up. "Now come on."

I pull him through the house and out the back door. The sun has set more now, casting pinks and golds across the yellow sky. I pull Lance over to a tree that overlooks the fields and take a seat. He looks around, then at me. "You pulled me out here to see the sunset?"

"For old times sake." I look out at the sunset. "Besides, I haven't seen a sunset in so long."

Lance smiles at me and turns to watch the sunset. I try to pay attention to it, but I can't with Lance right next to me. He's right here, the sunset setting his tan skin aglow. God, I'm so in love with him. So hopelessly in love with him it burns. I watch the sun set in his eyes, and the world feels right.


	3. Eyes an Ocean Blue

The sun shines in through the window and lights up the entire room. It wakes me up, my time with the Blade trained me to wake with the sun. No matter what planet you're on, a sunrise marks the start of a day. I sit up and look over at Lance. He has a face mask on, just like I remember. His sleep mask is blocking out the sun beams. He looks so peaceful when he sleeps, like he didn't have the weight of the universe resting on his shoulders just a few years ago. 

I stand and stretch, looking around at the blue room. There are posters hanging on the walls that I recognize as the same ones I had as a kid. They advertise space exploration all the way to the edge of our solar system. Ha, that seems so close now. We were barely sending people to the reaches of the systems when I was at the garrison. After Voltron, we travel to other galaxies as part of the Voltron Coalition, a federation of planets working towards a peaceful and unified universe. I dig through my duffle bag for some clean clothes, and pull out a black t-shirt and black jeans. Very reminicient of my old style. I close the window and change quickly before opening the curtain again to let the light in. I go to the bathroom to brush my teeth, then come back to the room. Lance is awake, he changed into a blue button up and jeans while I was in the bathroom. He passes me as he walks to the bathroom. 

"Woah Samurai, going emo again?" He jokes. 

"Shut up." I smile as I pull on my fingerless gloves. 

Lance comes back a few minutes later, smelling of lavender and lemon grass. 

"So." He starts "I was thinking we could go to the beach today. I doubt you've had time since you got back to Earth."

"I don't have a swim suit."

"Don't worry, you can borrow one of mine. We can bring food and have lunch there, make a day of it." He smiles as he talks, it makes my heart leap. 

"That sounds great. We'll have to bring a lot of sunscreen though, something tells me I burn easier than you do." 

Lance's smile brightens. God, I'm so in love with that smile. I can't think of anything in the universe as beautiful as that goddamn smile. 

He grabs some swim trunks from a drawer and throws them onto the cot. "Look through those." He tells me, before running out of the room. "Mama, Keith and I are going to the beach for lunch! Where are the sandwich fixings?"

I chuckle at that and look through the swim trunks. Most of them are different shades of blue, with palm trees or dolphins printed on them. I would make fun of Lance for all the blue he owns if it didn't look amazing on him. I find a pair of blue and red swim trunks near the bottom of the pile. They have some kind of sunset design on them. I choose that pair, then put the rest of the swim trunks back in their drawer. Lance comes back a few minutes later with towels and a tote bag. 

"Did you choose one?" He asks. 

I toss him the swim trunks and he puts them in the bag, then grabs a pair for himself and does the same with them. "Don't worry, we found all the sunscreen in the house, if you burn that's between you and God."

I laugh and stand. "Do you need help with anything?"

"Sure, do you want to give me a hand with the sandwiches?"

\---

It takes Lance and I an hour to finish prepping lunch. We made sandwiches, cut apple slices, grabbed some three day old brownies, and put together an assortment of drinks and snacks for the day. He carries the bag with our beach gear and I carry the freezer bag with the food to his car. It's a blue convertable, looking maybe twenty years old but still in perfect condition. We put our bags in the back and he climbs into the drivers seat. I cross my arms and look at him, taking in the picture of him at the wheel. 

"The beach is about a twenty minutes drive away. Nice and easy."

"Are you sure you won't crash?" I joke. 

"What? You scared?" 

"With you at the helm? Terrified." I climb into the passenger's seat and he starts driving. 

I have to say, after seeing Lance drive in this convertable with the wind in his hair, it's a damn shame we had to wear helmets on missions. He's absolutely beautiful, he looks so care free behind the wheel. 

"Are you still flying?" I ask him.

"Not very much, anymore. I used to go down to the air field in town and see if they'd let me fly, but it went under new management a while back and they won't let visitors fly anymore."

"I'm sorry. I know how much you love flying."

"Don't be, it's given me more time to focus on work on the farm."

He gives me a smile, but I know he's faking it. He loves flying. We were "Lance and Keith, neck and neck" at the garrison, in Voltron. He's the only person I believe can outfly me. 

"What about you?" He asks.

"When the blade needs me on solo missions I do, but other than that they have an assigned pilot fly."

"Look at you with special solo missions." He jokes. 

"They're not all they're cracked up to be. I definitely prefer it here."

Lance gives me another smile, more genuine this time, and I can't take my eyes off him as he continues driving us. I wish I had had the courage to tell him about my feelings. I wish I have the courage to tell him about my feelings. But the timings always been wrong, and I'm sure he's still mourning Allura and that he isn't even interested in guys but still. He's in my dreams and in all my thoughts. When I'd draw when missions were slow, I'd draw him. Over and over and over again. I just can't get him out of my head, not that I'd ever want to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My roommate and I started watching Voltron. Well, rewatching for me, but it's her first time!! I'll try to write when we're watching so I have my boys right in front of me, and I'll try to get chapters out more frequently. I hope you're enjoying it so far!


	4. Who doesn't love a good beach episode?

We get to the beach in the late morning. The waves are crashing gently on the shore, and there are a few people around but it's not at all crowded. Lance parks close to the beach and we walk to the public restrooms where we quickly change. I don't think I was ready for this. Lance is more muscular than I remember, the sun shining on his warm skin. He looks like a work of art. 

"Ready?" He asks. 

"Yeah."

We walk closer to the ocean and lay out the blanket we brought. We set the bags on the blanket and I sit. 

"What are you doing?" Lance asks. 

"Sitting."

"You can sit at home, we came to have fun."

I laugh, "Okay, what do you suggest?"

He pulls out two snorkeling sets and looks at me. One red and one blue. 

"You're kidding." I say with a smile. 

"Nope, suit up Mullet, we may have explored the universe but now it's time to explore the ocean."

"Are you ever going to stop calling me that?"

"Don't count on it."

I smile and pull my hair back into a ponytail before opening the snorkel set. I make sure to apply a layer of sunscreen before I even start getting this on. First I put on the fins, then the goggles and the snorkel. I look at Lance, who's just finished putting on his own gear. He gives me a smile, looking silly with the goggles on. I have to hold in my laughter. 

"Let's go."

We wobble over to the beach, walking awkwardly with our fins. It probably would have been smarter to put them on once we were in the water. The ocean isn't too cold, the water super relaxing as we get waist deep. 

"How are we going to stick together?"

He grabs my hand. "Like this."

I'm glad he's under water before he can see my blush. I put my snorkel in my mouth and lay into the water as well, letting him lead up around the shallow water. We move out a bit further, until the ocean floor is maybe ten or fifteen feet below us. I watch as brightly colored fish swim through pieces of coral and orange-brown rocks. Large schools of fish dart by, and I can see a few grabs wandering the rocks. A school of minnows swims by, startled by our presence. I feel Lance let go of my hand, and next thing I know I see him swimming under me, waving. I do my best not to laugh and wave back. Lance comes back to the surface and relinks our fingers, I hear him blowing the water out of his snorkel. 

We swim in this general area, going around the coral beds and rocks and watching the fish swim peacefully. I stay close to the surface, while Lance will sometimes dive down and touch the sand before coming back up and rejoining our hands. We see one or two sting rays swim along the seabed, and at one point we saw an octopus catch a fish before camouflaging back into the rock. It all feels so magical and peaceful, Lance is having a blast pointing out different animals and shells. 

He taps my hand, and we both surface to talk. 

"Dive down with me." He smiles. 

"I can't." 

"Come on. I'll hold your hand the entire time. If you feel stuck I can pull you up and we can surface if you can't get the water out of your snorkel."

I think about it for a moment. ".. Fine." I give him a smile. 

We put our snorkels back into our mouths. We get going a bit, then I feel him take a deep breath next to me. I do so as well and we dive down, towards the sea floor. I have to clear the pressure from my ears before we reach the bottom. I run my hand along the soft, smooth sand before we make our way back to the surface. I blow the rest of the air in my lungs out into my snorkel before breathing in, but I'm met with the sharp task of salt water. I quickly surface and empty my snorkel, Lance surfacing next to me. 

"How was that?" He asks. 

"That was fun."

"You ready to head back for lunch?"

I nod, and we start snorkeling our way back to shore. We watch the sea life as we head back, taking in as much of the view as we can. When we get to the shore we take off our fins and walks to our blanket, sitting down even though we're still soaking wet. I try to take off my goggles only for the snorkel clip to get caught in my hair. I try pulling the goggles out of it but it only manages to pull my hair harder. 

"Whoa, stop, let me help." Lance moves in front of me and starts detangling the goggle from my hair. "There."

I look up and our faces are a few inches apart. I feel frozen. He's right there. We stay this way for a moment before Lance breaks away, handing me a towel. 

"Thanks." I say, tossing a sandwich to him and wrapping the towel around my shoulders. 

We eat and watch the ocean. I check my phone and see that we were snorkeling for almost three hours. Time flied when you're admiring the beauty of nature, I guess. Lance gets us waters from the bag and I take mine gratefully. We're both definitely dehydrated after a swim like that. 

"I must say." I look at him. "This is so much better than food goo."

"Definitely. I miss the castle, but I for sure thought they would have some better food."

We sit there for a moment, thinking about the castle and the lions. The other paladins. Voltron. Back when we were the defenders of the universe, instead of a farm boy and a humanitarian on the verge of a possible retirement. I love helping others, and seeing the universe, but this is where I was born, where I was raised. Where my father is buried. Where Lance and my friends are. I can always return to the blade, but right now I just need a break. 

A man walks by as we're finishing lunch. He's pulling a cart with a picture of a mango on it. 

"Oh, stay right here." Lance instructs before running over to the man. They have a conversation in Spanish, and a few minutes and six dollars later Lance walks over to me with two mangos on sticks, covered in something red and sticky. "These are the best, you have to try them. They're mangos with lime, salt, chile, and chamoy. It's to die for."

I take one the the mangos and take a bite. Lance is right, this is amazing. The sweetness of the mango and the spiciness of the other ingredients makes one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time.

"What do you think?" He asks. 

"It's amazing." I tell him before taking another bite. We finish the mangos all too quickly, and wash the chamoy off our hands and faces in the ocean, laughing as we do so. 

Throughout the rest of our day at the beach we build a sand castle, bury Lance to his waste, and take a short walk along the beach looking for sea shells. We were sitting on the blanket when an older woman walked by selling jewelry. Lance went over to her, seeming to know her, and I read a book I brought while I waited for them to catch up. It's an old book in galra that my mother gave me, telling the tale of sometime before Zarkon, when the galra were a friendly and peaceful people. 

Lance walks over maybe twenty minutes later. "Hold out your hand."

"Why?" I ask skeptically, looking at him over my book. 

"Trust me."

"You better not have a crab or something." I tell him as I set aside my book and hold out my hand. He drops something cold and metallic in it, and I bring it closer to exam whatever it is. In my hand is a lion ring, with a red stone in it's mouth. I look at Lance who holds up his hand to show a similar ring with a blue stone on his finger. 

"Thank you." I tell him, slipping the ring onto my finger. It fits perfectly. 

Lance looks over at the setting sun. "Want to go for a sun set soak?"

"Why not."

We walk down to the water and lean back in the shallows, letting the waves move us above the sand as we watch the sunset. A wave larger than the others knocks me off balance, and I accidentally splash Lance in my attempts to not flip over. 

"Hey!" Lance shouts, splashing me back. 

"It was an accident!" I splash again. 

Pretty soon we're standing knee deep in the water, splashing each other. Lance tries to splash me again, but I move out of the way, splashing him. He laughs, splashing me with more water before tackling me. We have a huge splash, and next thing I know Lance in looking down at me as I hold myself up by my elbows. We stay like this for a moment, Lance on top of me with an arm on either side. I'm not sure what to do. He's so close I can hardly think. Before I even know what's happening he kisses me. Lance McClain kisses me. and he pulls away before I can kiss him back. 

He starts to stand, refusing to look at me. "I'm sorry, I-"

"Lance." I say firmly, standing and grabbing his wrist as I do so. 

He looks at me. It's now or never. I lean forward and kiss him, a hand on his shoulder, the other still grabbing his wrist. He shifts, wrapping his arms around my waist, and I feel my heart fly when he returns my kiss. We stay like this for a moment before Lance pulls away to look at me. I meet his eye, I'm probably blushing like an idiot.

"You.." He starts, unable to finish the sentance. 

"Yeah." I'm not entirely sure what he's asking, but the answer is probably yes. He smiles and kisses me again as the sun sets behind up. 

After a while we pack up our stuff in the dark and walk to the car hand in hand. The night is chilly, and we put on our shirts to stay warm. We wash off at the sand showers once everythings in the car. Lance hops into the drivers seat and I get into the passenger's seat. He looks at me and I smile. He grabs my arm and pulls me into the middle seat. I'm startled at first, then buckle the middle seat's lap belt. Lance buckles his seat belt and puts his arm around me. I lean against him and put my head on his shoulder. If this is a dream I never want to wake up. I watch as Lance starts the car and begins driving us home. I take in his sent, that lavender and lemongrass now mixed with salt water, and watch the road ahead.


End file.
